Day 1 off of juice fast

So this is the first full day off of the juice ast and I still feel great.


Everyone, that I know, that has done the juice fast has had an awful time the first two or three days that they broke the fast. A digestive nightmare is what I've been warned of, and prepared for. I've eaten meals all day today and light meals yesterday but I still feel amazing. My stomach has shrunk so eating a lot less than normal makes me full and no matter what I eat, and I still feel OK. I've beaten the odds of transitioning back to solid food and I couldn't feel better.

My stomach has shrunk, I eat as much as a normal person, (not a normal american), and everything is taking its course like it should. I've been back to living (eating) like I used to for 2 days now and I get very very full off of half of what I used to..... This reminds me of how I felt when I first started losing weight after turning vegan and naturally, and physically, feeling both why and how I was losing all of this weight. I Ended up losing 130 lbs with no extra exercise or work outs.

This makes me think that the American diet is completely wrong. Workouts or not we eat too much... Or at least too much of the garbage that is, daily, stuffed in our face. There's a war going on for our minds...... and sadly the war starts and ends with our palette... which, mentally, is disgusting. Enjoy your pink slime.

How many people do you know that say, 'whoah man, I'm hungry' and eats only non-cooked fruits and veggies. With that garbage you are going to, very shortly, fill yourself up.,..... You're not getting hungry again in a half hour because you don't eat enough, but because you are not getting any of the nutrients that your body needs...

Truth is when any food is cooked in any way that veggie/fruit/or meat loses nutrients in the cooking process. That's why the juicing diet both physically and mentally feels so great........All you're getting is the pure, natural vitamins/minerals and none of the garbage which makes up most of the American Person's diet.

I do not apologize for this rant...FTW

Day 17 of Juice Fast

So I decided to break my fast today. I'm planning on going to the bar Saturday night and having a beer or two so I thought it'd be wise to start eating a couple days before that so my body is used to normal vegan food by then. I drank juice for breakfast and lunch, and had a veggie sandwich from Jimmy Johns. For dinner I had a salad and soup from Brick Road Pizza co.

The juice I made this morning was fantastic.

1/3 bag of red globe grapes
3 chunks of pineapple
2 red apples
5 carrots

So the fast is over and I guess the blog will be as well. I hope this helps some people decide on whether or not to do a juice fast. I lost weight, detoxed, was clear headed, and had amazing energy after day 2. I noticed that I went to sleep within twenty minutes, which normally takes an hour or more. And waking up came much easier as well, which, if you know me, is not normal. Going back to food today I almost felt that I shouldn't, like I should be ashamed for going back to food hahaha. Kind of weird but I think that's normal for a fast this long. If you're thinking of doing a juice fast learn from some of my mistakes. Make damn sure you drink a TON of water. I've been drinking about a gallon a day if not a little more, along with the juice. Also I recommend making sure you get protein so you don't lose muscle mass. I started taking my protein powder shake, which is nice because it doesn't have fiber so I wasn't digesting it like food, just as a liquid. Get in touch if you have any questions or concerns about starting your own juice fast. I've heard recommendations of doing a ten day juice fast once every year, and a 3 day juice fast once a month. Once I actually own my own juicer I believe I will be following these guidelines.

Thanks for reading!!!

Day 16 of Juice Fast

Day 16 is finally here and I'm pretty excited for it to be over. I can tell my body is done with this fast and wants me to go eat something already. I think I'm going to start eating fruits Friday morning, steamed veggies Friday night, then Saturday eat normally. I'll even be able to go to the bar and actually have a beer or two Saturday night. I feel fantastic and I'm really glad I did this, but the fast coming to an end is a good thing.

This morning I had some left over fruit juice from last night. At lunch I came home and made a great variation of mean green. It was everything the normal mean green has, plus carrot, 1 green pear and 15ish small grapes. The grapes and pear made a huge difference and made the mean green even better than normal. I wish grapes weren't so expensive.

For dinner I made a great fruit juice that's a lot like the 'cheadlejuice cheadlejuice cheadlejuice' drink I made yesterday

1 mango
2 red apples
a lot of red grapes
3 stalks celery
5 carrots

It turned out really good.

I've noticed that some of the plants in my garden have some leaves that have been partially eaten.

I don't think there's any bug doing this so the only culprit that could still get into my garden are the many chipmunks that are around my house. I've never had a huge problem with them before but I don't see what else would be munching on my basil leaves. Since then I've put a bunch of cayenne powder around the garden. They supposedly don't like it and will be more likely to stay away from the garden

And here's one of my awesome tomato plants.

Day 15 of Juice Fast

Day 15 has come and almost gone and I feel fantastic besides being so tired. Worked third shift Sunday into Monday until 7am, and had to be to work at 9am Tuesday. Something about doing that then switching right back just confused my body and I've been really out of it today because of it.

After work I juice an entire musk melon with a mango. The color was great but the taste was not that good. I love melon, but just the juice tastes really weird.

After getting chores done I came home and treated myself to a berry juice

1/2 package blackberries

2 package strawberries

1/2 package blueberries

2 green pears

2 small chunks pineapple

1 kiwi

This juice is really good and wish berries weren't so expensive so I could make it all the time without breaking the bank.

This is the amazing vintage thermos I use for transporting my juice around in.

Day 14 of Juice Fast

Whoops forgot to post yesterday.
Slept until 2pm as I had to work third shift the night before.
I made some mean green in the 'morning' then I made a great fruit juice for lunch/dinner.

Cheadlejuice Cheadlejuice Cheadlejuice!!!
1 Mango
3 Red Apples
1 Pkg Blackberries
1 Bunch Red Globe Grapes
1 Small Chunk Pineapple
2 Green Pears
5 Carrots
4 Celery Stalks

Was pretty busy yesterday and had to try to go to sleep early as today I had to work at the normal 1st shift.
It looks like some chipmunks have been getting at some of my basil leaves. I'm going to try putting cayenne powder around the fence, I've heard that can make them stay away.

Day 13 of Juice Fast

The weather today was almost as magnificent today as it was yesterday, although I didn't have to work during the best hours of it. Got to sleep in late, thank god, and soon after waking up went to the beach with my friends Nikki, Mike and Kat. Took a long time to get there as we were definitely not the only ones to have this great idea on the best day ever, so it took an extra 45 minutes once we were in Grand Haven to actually get through the traffic to the beach. Once there we all had an amazing time tanning, basking, swimming, talking and reading. I absolutely love the game of thrones books by the way. The juice I took there was the normal Mango juice recipe I posted a in the past.

Once I got home I had an amazing hour nap in my hammock, then had time to go get produce. The hanging basket contraption looks a lot better when it's full.

I was still tired after my nap and shopping so I made a one glass batch of juice that was amazingly refreshing. This single glass of juice had only two ingredients: Blueberries and Red Globe Grapes.

I have to work third shift from home tonight so I made a high-octane juice that will give me the energy to stay awake until 7am.

Berry energy boost:

1 Package Blueberries

1 Package Strawberries

1 Mango

3 Small Red Apples

1 Small Package Blackberries

3 Carrots

So here I am trying to stay awake until the early hours of 7am, The juice should help as its high sugar. More good news is I got some, albeit bad, photos of Roger!!!! He's hard to get close to so these are as good as I could get so far.

Day 12 of Juice Fast

Today was THE most beautiful so far this spring/summer. I spent the first several hours of my day basking in the sun while listening to the amazing new Hot Water Music album 'exister', and drinking an amazing fruit juice mix. I was running out of veggies and fruit so I made one batch of Mean Green, and a random fruit juice.




Random Fruit Juice:
1 Chunk of Pineapple
2 red apples
1 green apples
2 bunches of red grapes
1 mango
1 chunk ginger
1 small bunch ginger

I also got this new hanging basket contraption for all the produce I have on my island counter. It freed up a lot of space and looks awesome too. I've also started using some of my protein mix in water in my juice fast just to be sure I'm getting protein, definitely don't want to lose muscle mass in my juice fasting adventure.

Think that I'm off to the beach tomorrow with friends before I work third shift. Gonna have to make a bunch of juice and throw it in the thermos for the outing.

Day 11 of Juice Fast

Day eleven has come and almost gone, and I'm still feeling great and loving the juice more than ever. When I get cravings its not as much for food but for more juice. I still want to eat, obviously, but its getting easier and easier not to.

I  haven't been going out to the bar or going out to eat with friends. I have to work all weekend which makes it an easier choice not to go out, but I miss it, and might be going out next weekend regardless. I might cut the fast a little bit short and start eating on Saturday instead of Sunday (next weekend), so I can go out and be social, and let things get back to normal.

I've been using a pretty great Breville juicer , that goes for about $200 on Amazon. After doing a little research I found that consumers report shows that this juicer is less favorable than the Hamilton Big Mouth 67650. The Hamilton is a lot cheaper at  $60-$80, and the reviews make it sound like a pretty great juicer. Due to the lower cost I think, when I have the money, I'll be purchasing this one.

Speaking of future juicing I've decided that although I will be done with the juice fast for a long while, I'll still be drinking home made juice because of its micro-nutrients and very healthy ways. Was thinking maybe I'd replace lunches during the week with a juice and a small salad.

Still trying to catch a photo of Roger trying to get into my garden.

Day 10 of Juice Fast

Today is the halfway point of completing my juice fast! Very excited to get back to eating again. What restaurant will I go to first? Barter Town? Brick Road Pizza? Chez Olga? Szechuan Garden? Lai Thai? 

Truth is I have no idea but I have a feeling I will know come day 20. 

I've read that its recommended to not jump right into your normal foods but to start with solid fruit, then veggies, etc. Day 20 I might drink juice, eat some fresh fruit, and maybe some steamed veggies to accustom my body to food again.

Today I woke up early for work but luckily checked my schedule because I actually had today off because I work Saturday... which is a bummer, as I also have to work third shift Sunday night into Monday morning. Once again no weekend for me, but during a juice fast is a great time for that to happen I suppose. 

I got a lot done with my day off even with the late start (I went back to sleep and slept past noon for the first time in a long time). I had some of the juice I made last night ready for this morning for breakfast then around three I made a variation of the main mean green:

Mean Green Variation 3:

4 stalks celery

1 cucumber

4 carrots

1 mango

3 small green apples

5 leaves kale

1 chunk ginger

1/2 lemon

1 green pear

It tasted almost the same as the normal mean green, which is great, but it was a little sweeter with the mango and pear, which is also fantastic.

With the rest of my day I went to the store and bought some new basil plants to replace the few in my garden that weren't looking too good. I also bought some cool beachgrass for the planters in the front of my house. When mature the grass is a orangish color and in the autumn turns bright orange/red. They don't look like much now but they get about 2-3 feet tall:

With having an entire day off I obviously made time to lay and read in my hammock, which I try to do every day. Whilst pondering in my hammock I remember how I got so eaten alive by mosquitoes last year while in it. So I went back to the store and bought some citronella plants and put them in large movable planters so I can put them around the hammock, or bring them wherever I don't want mosquitoes. Excited to see how well they work!

Day 9 of Juice Fast

Juice!!

So today is almost the 10 day mark and I'm getting pretty excited to be at the half way point of my fast. I've been consuming nothing but juice and water for 9 days and I haven't felt this good, mentally or physically, since I first turned vegan 3.5 years ago.

I didn't have time to make juice fresh this morning so the only thing I could take to work was one small glass that I had preserved in the refrigerator. It was the end of the juice I made for myself last night with mostly fruit. I was pretty tired this morning so it was nice to have the fruit's sugar give me the little kick that I needed. I was able to make a small portion of mean green when I came home from lunch, just to get me through the day until I could buy more cucumber and celery to make more. 

This evening I made a juice that was half mean green, half fruit juice.

50/50:

6 Kale leaves

1/2 pound red grapes

4 Kiwi

5 Carrots

1 Celery stalk

1 bit of pineapple

The color of this one is a little weird, and way off of how it taste. By the taste alone I would imagine this juice to be bright orange. It was very delicious and I can't wait to have the last cup :)

Great news! The garden is now fully complete and is now protected from Roger getting his paws on the plants!  ( I'm going to make it this week's mission to get a great picture of Roger or one of his descendants. Cant wait until I can stop paying so much for basil and make all the Pesto and vegan Alfredo I can dream of. I have 14 basil plants currently :)

Day 8 of Juice Fast

This will be a fairly short post I have a lot to do yet tonight and it's already getting dark.

For breakfast and lunch I had the mean green again, as unoriginal as that is. I just like that it has so many vegetables without the nasty taste you would expect. The ginger is growing on me and I find myself using bigger chunks in the juice.

Any and all hunger pains are gone, and actually have been for a while. I still really want to eat something, if not just out of tradition/ritual, but I physically don't really want to eat.

After work I bought some compost and topsoil for the garden just to be sure the plants get what they need. After completely this summer's garden I spoiled myself with an almost all fruit juice.




1 Mango
2 Green Apples
1 Carton Strawberries
I Green Pear
2 Celery Stalks
3 Carrots
1 Small Bunch of Grapes
1 Small Chunk of Pineapple










One bit of great news is that the garden is completely planted! Now I Just have to get the fence up so Roger doesn't eat them all.

Day 7 of Juice Fast

Day 7 has rolled around and I'm already thinking that I'm going to extend the juice fast.

Although this was not the main intention of my juice fast, I've clearly lost some weight. I will be unclear as to how much until I remember to buy a 9 volt battery for my scale.

I'm still very high energy and clear minded. I'm starting to wake up with much more ease compared to my usual self. I even woke up early this morning to get some things done around the house and make some fresh juice before work.... which, if you know me, is not at all usual for a Monday at 7am. With both sleep and awakening being easier it's helping me in almost every way throughout the day. Simply going to sleep quickly, and waking up without it being the last second without being late could account for some of my energy.

With my extra time this morning I made the normal mean green plus carrot and arugula. I love the spiciness the arugula added to the "Grapey Pineapple upside-bliss cake" juice I made yesterday, however it was a unpleasant experience added into the mean green. I made myself drink half of the whole batch and at lunch I went home and made the tried and true mean green.



In a moment I will be making myself something with a lot of grape in it. I haven't tasted anything sweet all day and it will be a much needed boost. I'll post what I make either later tonight or tomorrow.

Veggies/fruit in my juice

5 steps closer to having the garden complete!

slightly exhausted now

Day 6 of Juice Fast

Finally got to sleep until I could sleep no more this morning. Woke up and went to Saugatuck for Mothers day with my Mom and Steve. Whilst they ate fried perch I walked across the street where, luck may have it, there was a juice bar! They didn't have anything especially healthy, but it was pretty tasty.

Juice bar savior drink:
Orange
Carrot
Lemon

After our outing I went grocery shopping for oh so many items of produce. My refrigerator has never been so full of only vegetables. Even while being vegan the last three and a half years, my fridge had never been so overflowing with an abundance of leafy greens, vegetables, berries, and other fruits.

Going with the idea of the drink Sarah and I had made last night I created a different version as I didn't have the exact recipe items.







Grapey Pineapple upside-bliss cake:
Lots of red grapes
Decent portion of Pineapple
Handful Mint Leaves
Handful Arugula Leaves
Celery
2 Green Apples
Large Chunk of Ginger












This is one of the best juices I've made so far. I may just have to open a juice bar when this is all over. Any suggestions on names for said juice bar can be submitted below in the comments section.

Day 5 of juice fast

I completely forgot to write a post yesterday (Saturday)

Saturday was very rainy and gross out most of the day. I got shopping done for my garden. I mainly have tons of basil, and a 5-6 varieties of tomatoes, as well as some peppers. Now I just have to de-weed the garden spot and plant these bad boys. I might go pick up a large cherry tomato plant so I can get some tomatoes early to munch on. Speaking of eating things.... I am not.

Veggies soon to be planted in this year's garden!

Drank mainly mean green again today. Tried subbing one of the apples for 2 small pears and it was pretty good delicious.

Went to my friend Sarah's house last night. It's great that she is also on the same juice fast as I, so we can help each other out and give one another juice ideas/recipes. Juicing is much better while juicing with others. We had fun sitting around talking and making juice 'till the early morning. This was the first time I had tried home made grape juice. We just put only red grapes in the juicer, only for a small shot of it each, I must say it was spectacular! One of my favorites so far. Not sure how healthy JUST grape juice is but I must say I don't care, it's that good. It even looks delicious (below)

We later made great juice with the grapes as a main ingredient. I believe it was:
Bunch of red grapes
Blueberries
Pineapple
Celery
Romain
Mint Leaves

Thanks Sarah!

Day 4 of Juice Fast

This morning was very clearly my day to detox. I had points at work this morning where I would get really hot and clammy, and it never really went away. It was quite uncomfortable and it was very slow at work so I took a half day.

Rest is what my body wanted, as when I got home I immediately took an hour and a half nap no problem. This is odd because I'm normally awful at taking naps during the day. I must have gone to sleep way too late last night. There's that and the point that it is one of the nicest days out this spring and I was napping in my hammock. Here's the view I had 

But anyways I was definitely detoxing, but after the nap I felt fantastic. Ended up cleaning the living hell out of my house... the entire thing... and I will admit it was not very clean...at all. The juice and water gave me more than enough energy to thoroughly clean the living hell out of my house.

Today I had mainly mean green, which has become my much preferred juice of them all. The almost all fruit juices are nice for snacks, but can be a bit too much sugar all at once. The mean green has a lot of vegetables in it, but has enough of, and the right, vegetables to mask any taste that one might call 'too vegetabley' 

I also noticed yesterday morning that I was becoming a bit dehydrated. Too much sugars without enough water. I've been drinking a ton of water since and it has helped considerably with the juice fast. If you plan on juicing, make sure you drink a ridiculous amount of water. Here is a picture of me drinking water.

I change it up a bit this morning with the mean green

Mean Green Variation Chead:

6 kale leaves

5 celery stalks

1 cucumber

6 carrots

2 small tomatoes

3 green apples (very small or I would've used two)

1 lemon

1 chunk of fresh ginger

VERY excited to start my garden tomorrow. I plan on planting large tomatoes, cherry and grape tomatoes, jalepenos, habeneros, and at least 18 basil plants.Oh and I'm going to use this venue to both tell you how awesome my clematis' are, and talk shit about yours.

Day 3 of juice fast

It's day three and I feel better than I did the first two, that's for sure. I've been drinking nothing but homemade juice for three days and I am definitely already seeing benefits.

My head is clear. I can think much more clearly now and, this may sound crazy, but I feel like I can see better..... Clearer. To bright light they seem much more sensitive. Seems odd. Also my hearing seems to much clearer. I've had to turn down the volume of my headset at work a considerable amount. I find this and the extra clarity of my mind fascinating.

Today I had the conventional mean green (recipe on day one) at work and an interesting fruit juice for a snack.

Suicide juice
1 green apple
1 red apple
1 red pear
1 green pear
6 kale leaves
5 carrots
4 celery stalks
1 tomato
Bunch of strawberries


This was really good as a snack. Certainly don't want to do a juice fast only with juices like this being so heavy in fruits and all. But like I said, great as a snack.

Oh... And to any future juicers... Be sure to keep the cup under the juicer when you start juicing, or kale juice will be EVERYWHERE :)


Edit:
Oh... and for the bad writing I apologize, it was written in haste on my ipad while watching a movie :)

Day 2 of Juice Fast

After yesterday's headache debacle I was decidedly chipper to only have a slight glimmer of pain behind my eyeballs this morning. It has not gotten worse or better since, but it's certainly livable after yesterday.

Made some juices last night for this morning while really tired and I forgot some ingredients. I made the Beet juice from yesterday's recipe, only I forgot the lemon, and only had one apple... needless to say it was not nearly as good as yesterday. Very 'chalky' tasting and not nearly enough sweet tastes, but still was drinkable.

At lunch I'd had enough with the taste of this juice and decided to go home and go wild with the fruits I got yesterday from "Door to Door Organics". I get the Bitty mixed box weekly for 25 dollars. It's really great organic, mostly non-gmo (very important to me) fruits and veggies that get delivered to your house. They have a lot of options and you can sub things that they're sending you for other produce if you wish.

Anyways I ended up making the following (improvised)

Chead's Bombastic Fruit Juice
1 Mango
1 Green Apple
1 Green Apple
1 package rasberries
4 Pears (misc)
5 Carrots
1 Celery Stalk



Lets just say this made up for any and all mediocre veggie juices I have, or ever will, create.

Because I had nothing to cook or make, I then had time to just relax in one of my favorite relaxing spots....shown below

First day of Juice fast

Today is the first day of my juice fast and I was quite prepared to get going strong.
I had 2 batches of Mean Green (with slight variations) made as of last night so I could just wake up and go this morning.
The first batch was simply:
1 Cucumber
2 Green Apples
6 Kale Leaves
4 Stalks of Celery
1 Small Chunk of Ginger
1/2 of one Lemon

I thought the juice was not going to be very good at all, however, it turned out great! I love being able to get all those greens in the juice without tasting it TOO heavily.

For lunch I went home and made a juice that was quite different and slightly improvised:
1 beet
4 carrots
2 honeycrisp apples
1 pear
1/2 lemon
1 chunk of ginger
1 small package of blackberries

I really liked this one as well. It tastes quite a bit different from the mean green, however I did still enjoy it. I made this one as more of a detox drink as I know the carrots and beets add more of a detox quality to the juice.

As it is the first day I'm starting to think I shouldn't have started this juice fast during the work week, but I got through the day, and it'll get better. The only real complaint I have is the headache. I was fine until about 11:00am today when it started showing it's ugly face. Every hour since then the headache has been getting worse and more severe, to the point where it's kind of throbbing with my heartbeat... Problem is I drink quite a bit of coffee. I knew the caffeine withdrawal would give me a headache but i didn't expect it to be this bad at all.... oh coffee.. I still love you. I just can't drink you for a little while longer ;)

I'll have some pictures and hopefully better writing to come... headaches make writing difficult.

916pm
Headache is still going stronger than ever... Maybe I should never have caffeine again. When the inevitable zombie apocolypse comes, and there's no more coffee, I will not be able to protect myself with this headache :( :)